


Dinner Gone Right

by nonbinarybabadook



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, I took the dinner scene in Everything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better and made it good, linda shows up first and kicks his ass before he can make Mistakes, lucifer tells her How He Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 02:36:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19075741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinarybabadook/pseuds/nonbinarybabadook
Summary: After spending the day trying to prove to Chloe that he is far better than Pierce, Dr. Linda's timing is a touch better, and Lucifer actually tells her how he feels.3x21 rewrite.





	Dinner Gone Right

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this in my drafts is "do it coward" and coming up with anything else was actually really hard. "I fixed a thing in season 3 that made me mad" is probably better

Setting up, Lucifer feels a pep in his step, despite having spent the entire day trying to do other versions of what he’s doing. He knows he can show Chloe that Pierce is subpar to him -- to anyone, frankly. He just has to show her, make her see. He can prove it, he just has to find the right thing that can finally open her eyes. The dinner, all of it, if he can make it just right, perfect enough, it’ll work. He’s sure. 

The elevator dings while Lucifer’s placing their plates, the metal covers to keep them warm still on the bar. 

“Ah! Detective, you’re early! Excited to see m--- Doctor?” 

Instead of Chloe, Linda steps hesitantly out of the elevator, looking around with half suspicion and a mix he can’t quite decipher. Concern? What is there to be worried about? 

“What? Is it not good enough? I haven’t lit the candles or brought over the roses yet but --” 

“What are you doing?” Linda asks instead, hands hovering at her sides as if she can suppress his energy and words by pushing them down. 

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m showing the detective that Pierce isn’t good enough for her. He’s invited her to dinner, I’m sure, so I’m making sure ours is far superior --” 

“No,” she cuts him off again, shaking her head. “I can’t let you do this. Ever since you left my office I’ve been struggling between my role as your therapist and my concern as your friend.” Confused, Lucifer stares at her blankly. “Friendship won. I’m just glad I got here soon enough. Lucifer, you can’t _convince_ Chloe that Pierce isn’t good enough for her by one-upping him. That’s not how caring about someone works.” 

“What do you mean? Aren’t grand gestures supposed to make a difference in proving how much I care?” 

“No, because you’re doing it for the wrong reason.” 

“What better reason is there?” 

“Doing it unprompted. Not because you care about being the best choice, but because you just care about her. It’s not a competition, Lucifer.”

“Of course it is! I have to be better, or else she could make the mistake of going back to him! I can’t let her do that without helping her see that he’s not good enough for her!” 

“Then who is?” 

Blinking, Lucifer feels himself rock back slightly, as if her words hit him like a hurricane’s breeze. “What?” 

“You came to me before, after you two had almost kissed, and you were convinced you had to prove your worth to her.” Lucifer’s mouth snaps shut, teeth clicking as he’s reminded of that day where he only managed to upset her for hours. “And it was by taking her feelings and wants into consideration that you decided you weren’t. And that’s when she kissed you. What, now, makes you think that same tactic is going to work? Because Pierce is trying to prove to her that he loves her? That your insistence on his worthiness is going to break how Chloe feels about him? What are you going to accomplish by doing this, Lucifer?” She steps closer with each question, challenging him in a way that she hasn’t before. This isn’t his therapist, it’s his friend. The change, the bluntness, it’s the only way he’s going to listen, and she knows it. 

She knows, this time, she has to get through him. If not for his sake, then Chloe’s. 

“Exactly what I said! Show her he’s not worthy! Anything he can do isn’t good enough for her! She deserves the best anyone has to offer!” 

“And you think that’s going to _work_?” 

“It has to!” He finds himself yelling, lungs working harder than they should be.

“Why?!” She yells right back, rising briefly onto her toes to get closer to his height and as in his face as she can, even as he retreats. 

“Because --” he stops, drawing in an unsteady breath. “I don’t know!” 

“Yes, you do! Why?!” 

“Because I l—“ He stops, eyes wide and gasping.

Satisfied, Linda rocks back. “There. Now, what are you going to do about it. Run to Vegas again? Stand her up and hope for the best? Tell her Pierce is the best choice? Or are you going to _tell her_ how you feel?” 

Since he’d almost admitted aloud what he could barely admit to himself, Lucifer finds his gaze constantly aiming towards the floor, his mind screaming. This time, his voice is hushed, and nearly breaks Linda’s heart. “I can’t.” 

“Why? What are you so afraid of?” She softens visibly, shoulders relaxing and compassion filling her face. 

Instead of answering, Lucifer scoffs, turning from her and rubbing at his jaw, trying to ground himself. This is a fight he wasn’t expecting to have -- let alone with someone who can see right through him and make him see exactly what he doesn’t want to -- and he doesn’t know how to recover. He’s shaken, having been forced to see through his own curtain into what he’s been so afraid to admit. “That it’s not real.” A pause, as he rakes his hands through his hair, Linda’s responding silence only allowing him to dwell in his fears. He picks up steam, age old anger rising up and filling him with something far more familiar and comforting than what Linda’s drawn from him. “That she doesn’t have a choice. That I don’t have a choice. That I’m just falling into his plan to make us all do what he wants for his enjoyment!”

“By not telling her, you’re doing the exact same thing and taking away her choice!” 

“That’s different!” 

“Is it? What do we _really_ know about what your dad is responsible for? None of us have any idea what he’s doing, what he’s done, or if he can even control anything. But, right now, he can’t control what you do.

So I’m asking you, _The Devil_ , what do you truly desire?” 

Any bravado he has left crumbles. Chloe’s smile comes to him like she’s there, warming him and making him want to do whatever he can to keep it there and make sure she’s always happy. He’s never been sure if he can --- but he can’t lose his chance to see it for who knows how long. He thinks of her at every crime scene, her heart on her face and sorrow dripping from her fingers, gathering in her gloves in the hopes to simply discard it later. How safe he feels when she hugs him. How she’s the only person who made him feel like he was meant to be more than his legacy. How she’s the flame he can’t stop flying towards. How she makes him feel.

“I want her to choose me.” 

“Then don’t screw this up,” she says, bringing him back to the present, to the candles burning too low, the food still uncovered, the roses not set up the way he envisions them. 

Inhaling sharply, a smile pulls at his lips. Nodding partly to himself, Lucifer straightens his jacket, absently reaching to see if he made too much of a mess of his hair in his frustration, eyes darting around the penthouse to make sure everything is perfect for her. 

“I’ll leave you to it,” Linda says as a goodbye, smiling back at him. Intent as he is on his new mission, he momentarily forgot she was there. 

“Linda?” he calls before she steps into the elevator.

Her surprise is only indicated by the rise of her brows and swiftness of her turn back to him. “Hm?” 

“Thank you.” He’s never meant it more than this moment. Never thanked her for being his therapist, his friend, more sincerely than now. 

Her returning smile reassures him that she knows. “You’re welcome.” 

Checking his watch, Lucifer nods to himself, organizing everything he has to do before she arrives. 

 

When the elevator dings and the doors open, Lucifer has never been more grateful for Linda in his entire life. Chloe emerges from the dimly lit space, still clothed in white and looking far more suited for the glowing wings he feels weighing invisibly on him. He’s far more nervous than he would have been if Linda hadn’t arrived fifteen minutes before she did. He knows she’ll be able to tell, she can always tell, can always read him --- But he gathers the confidence he had only an hour ago when he invited her in, planning on sticking to the plan he’d set up for himself while scrambling to make everything look just right.

“Detective! Thank you for coming.” 

She doesn’t say anything, simply looking around and shaking her head, making his throat tighten for a moment, but he pushes past it, an arm sweeping toward the table, setting aside the match that lit the last candle. But she still walks towards him, and that's all that matters.

“I thought you were having me over to tell me something.” 

A soft exhale is the only expression of his internal amusement. Yes. How quickly and easily one conversation can change an entire plan. Now, all he can think of is the new plan, what he spent the rest of the time scrambling to set up after Linda left thinking about until this moment. 

“In only a moment. First, please, sit.” Guiding her to the table, Lucifer pulls out her chair, tucking it beneath when she sits, a smile ghosting over his lips at her surprise, trying to ignore the part of him that asks why she’s surprised, why he hasn’t tried to do something nice for her for no reason other than wanting to --- 

“I hope you like Chateaubriand,” he says, only giving the slightest flourish when he reveals the dish. Her surprise continues, and instead of letting that nasty voice cut into his thoughts, he silences it with the fact that this dinner was a surprise, not him doing something for her. But his thoughts and the voice agree he didn’t have the right intentions. Clearing his throat, he pushes both of them aside to take the champagne from the ice bucket, filling her glass first. 

“Lucifer, what is all this?” 

“This,” he declares, setting down her glass, “is to help you make a decision about your future. And… our future, as well.” He knows, if he’d never had to dwell on this, he’d feel far more certain of himself, but now there’s a hesitance he can’t deny, and she notices it. 

“Okay,” she begins as he sits and pours his own drink. “Is… everything alright?” 

“What? Yes -- oh, yes! I’m simply remembering a conversation I had earlier. No matter. Now that I have you here, I wanted to ask you ---” His rehearsed words nearly slip off his tongue, nearly asking if Pierce could ever do this, but Linda’s voice snaps in his mind, cutting him off. Involuntarily, he pauses, looking to the side of her for a moment until she leans into his vision. 

“Lucifer?” 

Straightening, Lucifer shifts forward in his seat, suddenly far more serious, his nervousness showing through now rather freely. “I actually wanted to tell you something.” 

“Okay,” she says again, her eyes so open and accepting. He almost thinks she even might look a little hopeful. 

“I…” He inhales deeply to steady himself before he finds the courage to look back into the eyes he could drown in. “I love you.” 

The change in her expression, the moment she only lets out all the air in her lungs in surprise feels longer than a year in Hell. He can’t look away. He won’t let himself. Won’t let her think that it’s something he might be ashamed of, when it’s the one thing he’s ever been sure on. But he waits for the rejection. For her to say, like she did months ago, that they’re too different, that he’s not good enough. That she chooses Pierce instead. 

“I love you, too.” 

His smile surprises him, unsteady and still slightly afraid. “You do?” 

A laugh leaves her in return, nodding as she reaches across the table for his hand. “Yeah.” 

The joy --- that feeling of invincibility that he’d first had when he first thought they were real floods him, filling his chest and making his heart feel like it’s beating for a reason. “Well, that’s a relief,” he laughs, marveling at the feeling of her fingers in his. 

“What do you mean?” She asks, brow furrowing. He realizes instantly he wasn’t clear, his actions all day not helping her follow his thought process. 

“I feared you --- that you’d, well, not… feel the same.” Her face changes, eyes softening as she leans towards him, but he continues before she can say anything else, “I know I’ve not acted, well, the best in the past few months, but I realized that if I didn’t tell you how I felt, I’d always regret not doing so. And I know the fate of your relationship with Pierce is still unsaid, and I don’t want to make things worse for you---” 

“Lucifer,” Chloe stops him, brushing her thumb over his knuckles, “it’s okay. The past few months have been… a lot, but at least now I understand.” 

“You do?” he asks, and all she can think is that he looks just as vulnerable as she feels. 

“Yeah, I do.” 

He feels like he’s in a free fall with his wings tucked in, but then her eyes draw him in until that feeling fades, and all he’s left with is realizing how much he truly loves her. He’s not sure how long they sit quietly together, the candles dripping wax onto the tablecloth and ease winding its way through their bodies, more comfortable than either of them have been in months, but it’s not nearly enough. 

Lucifer blinks and finds him entranced still with her fingers moving over his hand, still being held but also explored absently, looking at them only briefly, before his mind commands to keep his eyes on Chloe. Now that he’s told her, he’s afraid, more than ever, that she’ll simply disappear, but in this moment, with the truth wrapping around him tighter than an embrace, he can’t feel it quite yet. Like a song stuck in his head that he can’t remember the words of. 

“Should we…” he ventures, catching her index finger with his, “eat?” He finishes, a soft laugh leaving him when she looks down as if just noticing the food’s still there. 

“Oh. Probably,” she laughs back. Both of them are reluctant to let go of each other, but they do part, taking the lids off their food --- surprisingly still warm --- and sneaking constant glances that turn into smiles when they make eye contact as they cut into it. 

Halfway through, after occasionally making comments that mean nothing and yet everything, Lucifer clears his throat. “I want to reassure you that I know you have had a lot on your mind, and I don’t want to cause you any pain or trouble ---”

She reaches over again, leaning far enough to catch his wrist, her thumb instantly brushing over his skin when she makes contact with a soft, if not slightly pained smile. “I don’t want to worry about that right now. Can we wait on that and just… enjoy this for now?” 

“Nothing would make me happier,” he covers her hand with his, squeezing it slightly, and they slowly part again to look back to their food. At one point in the quiet, Chloe’s leg brushes against his under the table before staying there, and Lucifer finds himself pressing his back against hers until they’ve locked their ankles together, smiling sillily at each other. They’ve just managed to finally to settle back into conversation --- about the food --- when Chloe’s phone rings, making them both jump. Each of them misses the moment they’d been wrapped up in the second it has to end, but with a case still open, neither of them suggest ignoring it. 

Digging her phone from her pocket, Chloe flashes the ID to Lucifer before answering it and putting it on speaker. “Hey, Dan, what’s up?” 

 

They leave together in her car to the theater, both of them still bubbling with happiness, but trying to keep the majority of the focus on the case while they theorize back and forth on what could have happened. Upon arriving, they rush in together, watching the performance from backstage, until Lucifer realizes why Miguel killed Reina. He sees it like it was himself. 

“Why didn’t you just tell Amber how you really feel, tell her the truth?” Chloe asks, inching closer to Sterling while he’s distracted. 

“Because I was afraid.” 

“Afraid she wouldn’t love you back.” Lucifer states, staring down the gun pointed at him, thinking that he was Miguel only an hour ago. 

“To think,” Lucifer muses, turning to look at Miguel as he’s handcuffed, “you could have had everything you ever wanted. All you needed to do was tell Amber how you felt. But you blew it.” 

He watches him be taken away and Amber following, and turns in time to see Chloe hand off Sterling to some of the officers. 

“Thank goodness I didn’t,” he whispers to himself, already smiling when she turns to look back at him.


End file.
